Fukushima to Fessenheim : France and Germany's policy responses to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, 11 March to 18 June 2011

In response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, France ordered stress tests of its nuclear plants while Germany announced its nuclear exit by 2022. Given that both countries benefitted from nuclear energy with a relatively low risk of a disaster, this divergence is puzzling. Yet France and Germany's reactions were not ad hoc reactions; they were shaped by their post-war experiences and previous anti-nuclear mobilizations. Fukushima merely offered a political opportunity for the effective vocalization of antinuclear dissent, and ultimately the permeability of governing institutions determined each country's response. In order to explore this argument, this paper will examine the issue's coverage predominately within one French newspaper, Le Monde, and one German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, from 11 March to 18 June 2011 to gain insight of contemporary political opportunities and elite consensus as well as how meaning was being constructed and consumed by the public on this issue. (author)